England 5-1 Kazakhstan

England won their third world cup qualifier against a spirited Kazakhstan in Wembley, thanks to Capello’s team talk and Wayne Rooney's performance in the half time.

The first half ended goalless with England dominating the possession and Kazakhs defending in style. Apart from some ambitious long range efforts there was nothing that England would like to remember from their first half performance. Soon after the break, Rio Ferdinand, the stand-in captain, headed England’s first goal followed by an own goal by Kuchma giving England a two goal cushion.

The Kazakhs showed that they could pass the ball and cause a few troubles for the English defense, Ashley Cole’s error helped Kuzeyev to score an easy goal and halve the deficit. The left-midfield-cum-centre-forward-cum-striker Wayne Rooney increased England’s lead later on and scored another soon making it 4-1. Substitute striker Jermain Defoe scored later in the stoppage time thus making the scoreline look more like what have been predicted by football pundits.

The best parts of the match included some good runs by young Theo Walcott causing problems for the Kazhakh defense. The crowd cheered him, but Ashley Cole was booed in the second half after his error that gave the goal away. David Beckham came in as a substitute in the 75th minute, his free-kick helped Rooney get his second goal of the game.

The man of the match for the game was Wayne Rooney, he scored two goals and played well for the entire game.